Marriage Amendment
Russell Shaw tells us why it is important:
Hardly anybody supposes that the Senate will pass a constitutional amendment barring same-sex marriage when it takes up the question early next month. But the exercise is crucially important just the same, in more ways than one. In particular, a Senate vote on an issue many senators would prefer to avoid — along with House action expected in late July — will tell voters where their elected representatives stand just five months before the November elections.
---
The best guess is that the Protection of Marriage Amendment will pick up four more Senate votes this time than it did in 2004, when 48 senators supported ending a filibuster and 50 voted against. (John Kerry and John Edwards were out campaigning at the time, but they would have backed the filibuster if they had voted.) If the constitutional amendment really does get 52 votes this year, that will allow supporters — who include President Bush, the Catholic bishops, and many religious and pro-family groups — to claim progress.
---
For certain members of the Senate the amendment represents a special test. That group notably includes Sen. John McCain (R-AZ). McCain, eager to position himself for a run at the Republican presidential nomination in 2008, has been mending fences with conservatives of late. But up to now he's opposed the federal marriage amendment while supporting a similar addition to the Arizona constitution.
---
Meanwhile same-sex marriage proponents are pressing cases in at least seven states. One of these — a case in California appears the best bet — could reach the Supreme Court in two years. Opponents of same-sex marriage hope another Bush nominee on the model of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito will have joined the Supreme Court by then.
---
That underscores a further element of political relevance in next month's events — the impact they may have on several contested Senate races, such as the touch-and-go re-election campaign of conservative stalwart Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA).
Tags:
Posts
Following the 2004 Presidential election, we've expanded our discussion to cover the public policy decisions of Catholics in public service on both sides of the political divide.
|